Picking your partsCPU and GPU Benchmarks: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12/Select CPU or GPU and view single products, or compare them.
A great resource. Note the speed benchmarks are run at, and some games and tasks work better on one setup versus another. e.g. Video editing (multi core), RTS (core speed), Games (AMD/nVidia optimizations)

Intro to dual cards: SLI & Crossfire
In my opinion I'd only suggest dual cards from a performance a high end perspective. If you are willing to plunk down $600+ for GPU alone you go two cards.

How much power do I need?
For lower end systems, even with a GTX 460 or HD6850, a good PSU that can deliver 380W on the 12V is enough. For higher end systems a 500 or 550W is reccommended.
Above that tier are 750W systems for dual card capability or fastest single card, then a high end 850W or a 1000W for more graphics.

Choosing a case: Picking a case reflects what you are looking for, and your personal tastes. Note that some cases might not be able to fit taller rifle coolers (Like the CM 212 Plus, or more commonly a ThermalRight Silver Arrow) or longer video cards (Like a 6950 or GTX 580). Additionally some of the LED fans in cases can have off switches.Thank your friendly neighborhood feist and TheExodu5. Updated 04/26/12

FURMarkallows you to stress test your video card.Frapsallows you to record real time video, take screen captures and display your FPS.Memtest86+allows you to run a full memory scan to deal with the blue screen of death and system errors.MemtestG80allows you to test for soft errors in GPU memory for NVIDIA CUDA-enabled GPUs.nHancer/Radeon Proallows you to optimize the display, improve the performance and fully utilize your NVIDIA graphics card.OCCT / Prime95allows you to stress test your CPU and GPU.allows you to stress test the stability of your computer.Dxtory/nVidia driver options allows you to limit the frame rate on most games. Excellent for older games or just getting a locked 45FPS

relies on auto-aim

Is it safe? Mostly. Computer parts are pretty damn durable and there are a ton of safeguards in place to auto throttle down a CPU, increase fan speed, and even shut down before any harm happens.How hot is too hot? In general it is wanted to keep temperatures under 65C using a CPU load program (Like in the OP, Prime95). A little over is fine. Idle temperatures are not that important and are often reported inaccurately. Temperature variation across cores is normal.My CPU is not fast as others It happens. Every person is not going to get 4.8Ghz out of an i5 2500K. 1.3V and 4.4Ghz is a good benchmark for many though.

In general, the most resources you want are found by simply using Google. 'Processor + Motherboard' will give you a lot of good results. 'How to overclock (processor)' as well.

- Socket Type (Which processors will work with your motherboard. Make sure it matches or is compatible with the CPU you are buying.)
- Chipset (Different chipsets (H67,P67,Z68,770,880,990) determine what possible connections and extras motherboards can support. In general the performance gains are not noticible and it is used mainly to tell how many PCI-E lanes a motherboard can support)
- Memory (Does it use DDR2 or DDR3? 1.5V or 1.65V? Most use 1.5V DDR3 today)
- Expansion slots (How many expansion slots do you need? PCI-E x16? PCI? Do you want two GPU's and a wireless PCI-E card? A PCI sound card?)
- Connectors/features (Do you need HDMI out? USB 3.0 ports? On board digital out?)
- Formfactor (Your case will have room for a certain formfactor of motherboard (ATX[normal], mATX[small]. Some cases only fit mATX and are labeled as such)
- Compatibility (On rare occasions there are incompatibilities between certain cards and memory with motherboards)
- Brand (Most brands on the market today are solid. Newegg reviews are generally helpful to determine a DOA rate. MSI, ASUS, ASRock, and Gigabyte in no particular order are some of the most known.)
- Quality (You pay more for more features. Higher end boards will also have more power regulations, use less power, and keep voltage in check more than cheaper boards)
- Overclock-ability (Usually nearly equal across the board. If you want a slightly higher overclock, you can pay more for a motherboard with better power regulation)
- Price (Always try to find the best bang for your buck, don't buy a mobo with features that you will never use!)

So in short, when buying a motherboard try to follow these points:
1. Determine the platform (Chipset + Socket)
2. Determine what functions you deem necessary for the motherboard to have
3. Make a shortlist of all motherboards that have your demands
4. Pick the board that has good reviews and has the best price

Speed and latency for RAM (e.g. 1333 9-9-9-24 vs 1666 8-8-8-24) is not a big deal. In many cases it is just 1-4% difference. 1333Mhz DDR3 is perfectly fine for most. Save your money unless a sale is on, our you want to buy neat looking RAM. Just make sure the tall RAM heatsinks don't block your CPU heatsink!
4GB is enough for gaming. 8GB if you do a lot of multitasking or video work.
DDR3 prices are currently quite low and shouldn't drop much farther.

When you are in the market for a new GPU follow the same rules as with the motherboard. Determine your budget, features that you need etc.**CHECK REVIEWS FROM OP SITES!**

Question: There are many different brands in videocards, do they differ?Answer: Most cards are very similar. Brands are there for warranty and support. Sometimes a brand will use a custom cooler.
If the card uses the reference PCB, there is **NO** difference per brand, its the same card they just slap a different sticker on it.
But if you have a pre-factory overclocked card or they are using another cooler then the reference design there might be a difference, check hardware review sites for these GPU's.

SSD is a abbreviation for 'Solid State Drive': a 'drive' with no mechanical parts, but with a conventional disk-interface (usually SATA).
An ssd contains memory chips (flash memory) to store the data.
The biggest advantage is data is almost immediately available, without the need of moving a mechanical head to the area on the hard drive where the desired data is stored.
At this moment pc-components such as the processor, memory (ram), graphics processor and other components, perform well enough to meet the demand of the most users. Still we have to wait while using a computer...
So where can performance still be increased dramatically? The answer: SSD's!

Terminology:

- Garbage collection: part of the functionality of the firmware of ssd's that automatically merges fairly unused memory blocks for better performance
- Under-partitioning: leave blank space for better performance
- Wiping: OCZ method (tool) to improve performance
- Aligning: creating a partition with a size that is exactly the cluster size multiplied by a factor
- TRIM: a ATA (contoller) command from the operating system to an ssd, that can tell that a memory block on the ssd can be erased to improve write performance - It's a feature of Windows 7 but keep in mind that your SSD must support it!
- Wear leveling: spreading write-actions on memory cells evenly over the whole ssd - this prevents wear of the flash cells increasing their lifetime
- MLC / SLC: Multi Level Cell or Single Level Cell - the latter lasts longer, is theoretically faster but more expensive, so mlc-based ssd's are now sold more, especially to consumers.

Tips for SSD's on a Windows based system:

- Firmware: YES (check if there is new firmware out and if so install it, usually gets speed increases)
- Partition alignment: YES (Windows Vista (SP1 and later) and Windows 7 always create aligned partitions.)
- Defragmentation: NO (it's important that you turn off automatic defragging on the SSD. see below)
- Indexing: NO (its better for the drive durability + speed to turn this off. right click on the SSD in "my computer" and uncheck "Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties" you will probably get some error for some files that cant be accessed just skip them)
- AHCI: preferably enabled (this is a bit tricky since not all motherboards can actually do this. To enable ACHI also differs from pc per pc but there are some steps that are necessary. you can google this easily enough. -> be warned tho! there is no guarantee that this will speed up your SSD, also enabling ACHI requires to be done before installing Windows, you can hack it into the registry later but that can make your system unstable, so read up if you want to do this)

How to check if TRIM is enabled in Windows 7?
Go to the command prompt (run -> CMD) and key in "fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify" if you get a 0 (zero) TRIM is working. To enable it key in "
fsutil behavior set disabledeletenotify 0"

Here is a list with some good tweaks for your SSD (*WARNING* as always be careful what you change, most of these are quiet harmless but there are never guarantees!)

Disable indexing
Description: Indexing creates and maintains a database of file attributes. This can lead to multiple small writes when creating/deleting/modifying files.

Firefox - Use memory cache instead of disk cache
Description: If you use Firefox, there's a way to write cached files to RAM instead of the hard disk. This is not only faster, but will significantly reduce writes to the SSD while using the browser.
Instructions: Open Firefox -> Type about:config into the address bar -> Enter -> double-click browser.cache.disk.enable to set the value to False -> Right-Click anywhere -> New -> Integer -> Preference Name "disk.cache.memory.capacity" -> value memory size in KB. Enter 32768 for 32MB, 65536 for 64MB, 131072 for 128MB, etc. -> restart Firefox

Free up extra drive space
Disable the Page File
Description: Eliminate writing memory to the SSD, free over 2GB of disk space. Warning - If you run out of memory the program you're using will crash.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Settings (Performance) -> Advanced Tab -> Change -> Uncheck Automatically manage -> No paging file -> Set -> OK -> Restart your computer
Alternatively, if you want to play it safer, you can set a custom size of 200MB min and max.

Disable System Restore
Description: Don't write backup copies of files when installing new programs or making system changes. Can free up between a few hundred MB to a couple GB. Warning - Although unlikely, if a driver installation corrupts your system, there won't be an automatic way to recover.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> System Protection Tab -> Configure -> Turn off system protection -> Delete -> OK

Disable Hibernate
Description: You may free up 1GB of space on the SSD if you have 1GB of memory, 2GB of space if you have 2GB memory. You will lose the hibernation feature which allows the equivalent of quick boots and shutdowns.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Type cmd -> Right-Click the cmd Icon -> Run as Administrator -> Type powercfg -h off -> Type exit

And finally the ever important question: What SSD should i buy ?

Unfortunately there is no definitive answer for this question, technology changes and evolves all the time. So if you are planning on buying an SSD read up some reviews on trusted sites (see the websites in the link section).

listen to the mad man

What's the ETA on post-Thailand flood HDD prices returning to normal? Looking to buy a 3TB, probably a WD Caviar Green for $120 (last MSRP before the Thai flood), but still showing $310. That's down from $370, but obviously far from normal? I know the original estimate was mid-end calendar Q1 2012, but have there been any progress reports since then on the factory end? I haven't read any and can't find any. Anyone have the scoop?

Member

Since I realistically won't be able to build my new PC until I get home from work assignment in April/May, I am probably going to end up going with Ivy Bridge, unless something major changes between now and then. So this thread will have to hold me over until then.

Member

I think I will be building this year. My C2D OC 3.3ghz (sometimes!) and 260gtx got some great use and brought me back to PC gaming but I want to get some framerate boosts. Have a prosperous 2012. Thanks for all your work Hazaro.

Back in March of this year I replaced the GPU with an AMD HD6850 and an Antec 550w PSU. A few weeks ago I started having temperature issues which I think resulted in display driver crashes (that could've just been drivers). Now I'm worried if my temperatures are dangerous since my fan is now constantly running at 50% and higher.

When idle, my HD6850 stays around 50 Celsius, and I'm wondering what I should do about that. When playing a game (like Skyrim) it kicks up to around 100. After starting up a profile through Afterburner my GPU now sits around the 70-90 range when playing a game and I'm wondering if that's safe. Is my fan in danger of burning out if it is CONTINUOUSLY running at or above 50% 24/7?

Some other support people are telling me that part of the problem is that 550w isn't enough for my system and that the GPU may be running hot because it isn't getting enough wattage. They also advise I do something about airflow but I don't see what I could do short of leaving the case open at all times (I've seen people do this).

What's the ETA on post-Thailand flood HDD prices returning to normal? Looking to buy a 3TB, probably a WD Caviar Green for $120 (last MSRP before the Thai flood), but still showing $310. That's down from $370, but obviously far from normal? I know the original estimate was mid-end calendar Q1 2012, but have there been any progress reports since then on the factory end? I haven't read any and can't find any. Anyone have the scoop?

Seems like everyday a new article is written saying something else or something new. Worst I've heard is it's going to be 2013 until production gets back to normal. Either way, looks like prices have at least stabilized for the most part. They must be coming down from here. Also, Cav Greens are a pile of poo. HDDs are just one of those things where trying to find the best $:MB ratio is generally a bad way to go about it. Before the floods, I wouldn't have recommended anything under Spinpoint F4's for media type storage, and would push people towards enterprise drives if they didn't want to bother with a RAID1, 5, or 10 array.

Long story short: Spend money on drives. An extra $50 here and there will save your data. This concept generally doesn't hit home until you lose data.

Intel is officially putting the fork in Lynnfield. You can most likely swap your RAM to a sandybridge setup. Though, that kind of proc isn't really limiting you too much, especially if you get a really nice OC out of it. Investing in a good cooler and pumping volts into it for a nice overclock might be a good $erformance decision for you until ivybridge or something crazier down the line.

What's the ETA on post-Thailand flood HDD prices returning to normal? Looking to buy a 3TB, probably a WD Caviar Green for $120 (last MSRP before the Thai flood), but still showing $310. That's down from $370, but obviously far from normal? I know the original estimate was mid-end calendar Q1 2012, but have there been any progress reports since then on the factory end? I haven't read any and can't find any. Anyone have the scoop?

Threads have a 20,000 post limit so we would have a 3rd topic for 2011 that would be closed at the end of the year with 800 posts or so. I needed to update the thread anyway so I threw it all together.

Banned

i5 2500 and i7 2600 are for all intents and purposes the same processor. The only major difference between the two is hyperthreading, which is hardware voodoo where it convinces the OS that there are actually 8 cores when there are only 4. In programs that can use as many threads(or cores) as possible, this allows for better processing due to how the proc is fed data. The only game that works like that right now is Civ V.

I warned you. See you in a week when you start deciding on which set of 3 120hz monitors you want. (is he being sarcastic?) Dont forget to go to the Race Your PC thread and do it up. Lots of info there on how to squeeze more out of your system.

Member

Gonna start building tomorrow guys!! If it's alrite with you guys, I'll get on here for some troubleshooting and such if I run into problems.

The case is an Arc Midi and the video card I decided to go for after Newegg reinstated my order is the HD 5970. Looking to upgrade then next year Ivy Bridge whenever that comes out and when the non-reference Nvidia 680's come out next year. AS for HDD's I'm sticking with external HDD's for now which I have a crapload of.

Member

What would you guys pay for a used 6870 on ebay? I've been looking at a few but want to get some idea on what to pay. Or would you suggest any other card for that price range now? I don't have my disability yet and I'm out of money except for my recent birthday and then Christmas will get me a little more but I want to get one before I feel bad when my deductible is up again in January which I meet in just a few weeks into the year...lol

My 5770 has gone mad after my fan started to do its own thing and then completely died one day when booting up, so I've been looking for a new one for BF3 after getting an early Christmas gift and had everything else upgraded and paid for.

Banned

What would you guys pay for a used 6870 on ebay? I've been looking at a few but want to get some idea on what to pay. Or would you suggest any other card for that price range now? I don't have my disability yet and I'm out of money except for my recent birthday and then Christmas will get me a little more but I want to get one before I feel bad when my deductible is up again in January which I meet in just a few weeks into the year...lol

My 5770 has gone mad after my fan started to do its own thing and then completely died one day when booting up, so I've been looking for a new one for BF3 after getting an early Christmas gift and had everything else upgraded and paid for.

Alright, thanks. I've been checking CL with no luck so far so I finally looked on ebay and a lot were higher than I expected.

I'm hoping to find a good deal on newegg too since I missed out on the last one. I was also looking at 560's since some had good rebates, but I didn't have enough in my account for the money before rebate which sucked. I need to put some cash in since most of what I have is from selling shit myself, lol. Would a 560 be better for small increase in price than the 6870? I figure the 560ti is too much.

Member

Still can't mine to post. I've tried the memory in different slots and nothing. I'm trying to figure out if I messed up the memory or if it is the motherboard. I guess the only way to do this is trying a different stick? The only thing I can think of is I fried the mobo by taking the ram out without unplugging the psu.

I have an Asus P8Z67 V Pro to go with a 2600k@4.5 and a slightly oc'd 580. If it is the case that I fried it, should I just get the same one again? Or get something different. The ram is ddr3 1333 4x2 9 9 9 24. If that isn't ideal I can change that as well, but I really don't want to spend any more than neccesary.

Banned

Since I realistically won't be able to build my new PC until I get home from work assignment in April/May, I am probably going to end up going with Ivy Bridge, unless something major changes between now and then. So this thread will have to hold me over until then.

Member

Member

Was going to get a 3TB drive a few months back but I decided to be patient and wait for boxing day sales or something. Then I got screwed.
Samsung F4s good quality though? I kinda wanted to go for a WD Green 3TB as just a storage drive, but WD Greens are unreliable?